Michael Vick’s Long, Strange Detour

Posted on Sep 27, 2009

Was the pleasure I had, or hoped to have, from the martial arts fighting, the boxing, the bullfight, the duck hunt, that much different from what was experienced by Michael Vick and his guests at the Bad Newz Kennels festivities? Though there was a legal difference, and a difference in degree, was there a difference in principle? The question was perplexing, and it rested heavily on me.

Remember those five points of “neutralization,” or justification, from the 1957 sociological study? Let me try them on for size in regard to boxing, and attach some thoughts I’ve had at one time or another over the years.

l. Denial of the victim, wherein the offender maintains that whoever is harmed by an action deserves the harm. “Yeah, some fighters get hurt pretty badly, even killed, but they know what they’re getting into.”

2. Denial of responsibility, wherein one contends acts are caused by forces beyond one’s control. “It’s not my fault if a fighter gets crippled. You can’t keep boxers out of the ring. And if you just could see the way they love it, you wouldn’t think it was cruel.”

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3. Denial of injury, wherein one claims no one was harmed by the action; hence, there is no victim. “Only rarely does someone get really hurt. They’re tough guys and they can shake it off.”

4. Appeal to higher loyalties, wherein attachment to smaller groups takes precedence over attachment to society. “The Sweet Science: Jack Johnson and Dempsey and Louis and Marciano and Ali. It’s a grand American tradition cherished by many thousands. Ernest Hemingway and Norman Mailer boxed. Joyce Carol Oates is fascinated with boxing, and so are lots of other smart people.”

5. Condemnation of the condemners, wherein those who denounce a certain form of behavior have, themselves, exhibited worse forms of behavior. “Oh, that anti-boxing crowd will tear down any sport that’s rougher than lawn bowling. Those holier-than-thou hypocrites are always looking for something to criticize.”

Wow. Did that little list so easily couple with my own justifications? Yes, I’m afraid so.

A few interesting facts or assertions that I turned up about boxing:

—Ninety percent of boxers sustain brain injuries, according to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons.

—“The causal relationship between thousands of blows to the brain and diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s is accepted by most doctors involved in sports medicine.” (Can any sensitive person not be saddened by the present medical condition of Muhammad Ali?)

—“The British Medical Association, American Medical Association and Australian Medical Association all have standing policies that call for the complete banning of the sport.”

—Over generations, 1,465 boxers have died as a result of boxing injuries (as of November 2007).

Noteworthy information.

And noteworthy information of a different sort was on the cover of the Aug. 14 sports section of The Los Angeles Times. The headline read, “Vick gets next chance with Eagles.”

The article reported that “controversial quarterback” Michael Vick had signed a two-year deal with Philadelphia’s NFL team. Another article, from ESPN, gave figures provided by an unnamed source: “The first year of the deal is for $1.6 million with the second-year option worth $5.2 million. … Vick can also earn an additional $3 million in incentives over the two years of the contract. … ”

According to the L.A. Times, “Wayne Pacelle, president and chief executive of the Humane Society of the United States, said he doesn’t expect widespread protests and sees it as a good thing that Vick wound up in Philadelphia.

“It’s a city we’ve been looking at very closely because it has a major dogfighting problem. … So Vick’s landing there has the potential to turn around the issue. This gives us a big boost.”

So, where does this leave me and my mini-crisis of conscience? Will I never watch another boxing or MMA match? When the sinner knoweth his sin, doth he repent? As I now sporadically fiddle with the issue, I’m reminded of the famous prayer of St. Augustine: “Grant me chastity and continence, but not yet.” Grant me a life free of vicarious brutality, but not yet. The matter has mostly subsided into the background noise of daily life, but still it buzzes ever so faintly at the edge of my awareness. At the very least, the bogus high ground that I stood on has departed in a landslide and I have a better view of the illogical and perhaps immoral contradictions within me.

As for Vick, has he cultivated the remorse that PETA has demanded? If we are to believe his words at an Eagles news conference Aug. 14, he is on the right road. Here’s part of what he had to say:

… I have done some terrible things, I made a horrible mistake. And now, I want to be part of the solution and not the problem. I am making conscious efforts within the community, working with the Humane Society, hopefully I can do that locally and continue with my disciplined efforts in bringing awareness to animal cruelty and dog fighting in the inner cities and our communities. …

I think everybody deserves a second chance. … I think as long as you are willing to come back and do it the right way and do the right things and that you’re committed, then I think you deserve it. But, you only get one shot at a second chance, and I am conscious of that. …

I was wrong for what I did. Everything that happened at that point and time in my life was wrong and unnecessary. And, to the life of me to this day I can’t understand why I was involved in such a pointless activity and why I risked so much at the pinnacle of my career. …

There was a point in my life when before I was convicted or before the allegations even came out when I knew it was wrong and I felt that it was wrong. Just when I was trying to turn the corner and it was too late, but everything happens for a reason and there is a reason I was sent to Kansas [prison] and a reason I was convicted. I was conscious of the fact that it was wrong and to this day I have to deal with that shame and that embarrassment.

Those words seem sincere. My doubts and critical thoughts about Vick have not totally evaporated, but with a droplet of charity seeping into my stony heart, I wish him well. I hope he avoids trouble and plays for 10 more years and redeems himself in the eyes of man and the gods of man and beast. The Humane Society of the United States has posted a video on its YouTube channel featuring Vick and others denouncing cruelty to animals. In the clip Vick says, “If you own a pet you need to love him with all your heart.”

As it turned out, there were no visible protests from fans in Philadelphia when Vick took the field Aug. 27 in his first preseason game after his return. When he left the game after only six plays, shouts of “We want Vick!” rang from the stands. Maybe we Americans do have the short memories that some of our international critics attribute to us. Or, to put a happier spin on it, maybe we just possess a bigger store of charity than they usually see in us.

But not everyone is as forgiving as those Eagles fans. A Philadelphia-area volunteer organization named Main Line Animal Rescue placed an ad in The Washington Post this month saying it would donate five bags of dog food to a District of Columbia animal shelter for each time Vick was tackled when the Eagles played the Washington Redskins on Oct. 26.

“There’s really nothing we can do about Michael Vick being in Philadelphia,” Bill Smith, founder of the shelter, said in a media report. “But I thought this would be a good way to come up with a solution where we could help a few dogs.”

Smith said his group planned to run similar ads in the hometowns of other Eagles opponents during the season. Next to a picture of a puppyish pit bull is the ad’s tagline: “Because there are no second chances on an empty stomach.”

When NFL Commissioner Goodell announced in early September that Vick would be fully reinstated as of the Sept. 27 game, the Eagles’ third of the regular season, it appeared that the athlete’s long, strange detour had finally ended. On Sunday, according to The Associated Press, “Some in the crowd rose to give Vick a standing ovation as he took the field [in Philadelphia]. ... Before the game, a group of about 25 protesters gathered at the northeast entrance to the stadium, holding signs saying, ‘Vick is sick’ and ‘Ethics over athletics.’ ”

Now it’s a game of wait-and-see.

Can the NFL, Goodell, the Eagles, football fans, pet lovers or anyone else be certain that Vick will not in some way fall from grace again? Of course not. Certainty is hard to come by in a world of humans pushed one way and then the other by fickle currents.

But one thing that is certain: I won’t be casting any more stones at Michael Vick. After a few weeks of thinking about my brother under the skin, and myself, I’ve concluded that I live in a glass house.

T.L. Caswell was on the Los Angeles Times editing staff for more than 20 years and now edits and writes for Truthdig.

Nick: ’.... If Vick deserved to be sentenced for harming one particular species of “animal”, why is the harm caused through the processing of “animal” meat products any different?’

It’s my somewhat informed impression that most food animals are treated a lot worse than dog-fighting dogs. The difference is that a lot of people eat meat, but only a few people engage in dog-fighting, so the former is okay and the latter is execrated in spite of the fact that, objectively speaking, the former is a lot nastier. Most people in societies where slavery and cannibalism are practiced go along with them, too. It wasn’t too long ago that being against slavery in the U.S. could cost you your life. The people of those times weren’t all that different from the people of these times.

I don’t think it was a very smart idea to reinstate Vick, however, since it will taint professional football with his various deficiencies. These things have a way of coming back and biting those who indulge them when they least expect it.

This is to become an increasing serious problem with the Dave Zirin’s and Earl Ofari’s
so intent in obscuring the humanistic shortcomings of their respective communities.
Dog fighting was once just disgusting and ultimately banned by civilized white society;
but the geographic south (and I include the US South) addicted to intensity, has never
developed a sufficiently intellectual sensitivity to appreciate the pain and suffering
of any living thing other than themselves. This is the Viagra problem where people
have insufficiently developed brains. Maybe there IS a hemispheric (brain) issue as
proposed by PETA. Maybe in the case of the author, after living and working in Los
Angeles the capital city of dog fighting abuse for 20 years the brain grew into
balance.

Some on the other hand (like myself) were brought up where there was no forgiving
religion and we just had to work out decent behaviour with our intellect. We were
blessed with decent people for parents, and we did not join the Marines !

Dog fighting, bull fighting, boxing and the like are all great problems for those who
take part, actively or passively. Hemmingway was a simpering wimp who woke up one
morning and killed himself. Norman Mailer repeatedly stabbed his wife with a kitchen
knife and bought his way out of prison. Both suffered from severely compromised
masculinity and acted out in terrible ways in order to mask their cowardice. Dog
fighting is cowardice. People who fight these dogs are afraid of their ability to
defend themselves. They are just as sick as gun owners. They are the Dick Cheney
scaredy-cats who kill those who offer no defense. They vote Republican.

The damaging behavior of Vick and Madoff were likely easy subject matter at Yom Kippur sermons across the United States because of they were notorious examples of acts taken without regard to other people or, in Vick’s case, other creatures.

I am getting a bit tired of persons in the speechifying corner making excuses for Vick or Polanski or Madoff or Scrushy (HealthSouth) or other miscreants simply because they had parents who were cruel or headcases or victims of the Holocaust or did good civic things (Scrushy). Either you have standards for decent behavior or you do not.

The writer ought to read about the dubious record of Vick’s younger brother and then if he says “but I don’t hold him to a standard of decent behavior.” The writer who said that in certain neighborhoods in Atlanta someone walking a dog would be “propositioned” for a dog fight is a clear indication that there are otherwise honest folk who think that this behavior is acceptable.

As for Rendell and Lurie I say, were Vick not a star athlete would you say the same thing? I am waiting for Vick to come to Atlanta and face the fans and Mr. Blank and admit before the game starts that he has two regrets—-lying to Mr. Blank and lying to the fans. Unfortunately, like other scum Mr. Vick’s only regret is being caught.

By Ron E. Kendricks, L.P.C., September 30, 2009 at 7:06 am Link to this comment(Unregistered commenter)

“Until we, as human beings, can embrace all living creatures with compassion, we can not justly call ourselves, hu-man.”

I appreciate all the authors efforts in bringing this issue to the light of day. My only question would be:
1. Why did he not explore how others, who are not celebrities or millionaires, were treated as ex-felons who had to forgo all chances of meaningful employment and even shelter as “ex-felons?”
2. Why did the author not explore the gender difference in how Vick is perceived? When women become empowered in all levels of life…..the issue of the cruelty of dog-fights will become obselote. Where are all the women supporters in this cruelty?
Ponder on this.

Interesting and insightful but forgiving Vick at the end is inexcusable. Statistically it has been proven people who abuse animals work their way up the chain to people fairly quickly. 18 months in prison did not reform Vick and I am not convinced of his remorse or life change. All he had should have been seized. He should not have been allowed to return to the NFL. For every carcass found on the property, he should have gotten an additional year tacked to his sentence and he should have gotten a very long and lengthy community service working in a animal clinic. I do not watch boxing, UFC, bullfights and had all the killing I cared for after my military service (I was an avid hunter for years). These people who commit crimes like this get off too easily. He started this road as a teen—The dog killer and gambler, the man who likes violence and abuse to innocents is the real Vick. He is one step down from a serial abuser and serial killer.

To The Heart of the Matter….until our consciousness as human beings, embraces compassion for all living beings….we are still animal-man rather than hu-mans.

The fallacy of Vick rehabilitationis is clear. Any other person who is a convicted felon would not be allow to start-over again in their professsion. They would have to start over again with a label as a “felon” that would keep them from getting a decent job and housing. The odds would be heavily weighted against them. Let Vick start all over again with justice served….from the bottom up…..and then see if he has the guts to rehabilitate. To start over again as a millionaire is a further crime of injustice.

Ian—well, I guess since I dont eat aninal products, my comments were fine. It is not just about animals. It is about an emotionally and pjhysically abusive human being. He hasnt hurt any people, physically, yet. Let him go on—he will. He has learned to use his physical prowess—and nothing else—all of his life.

Check psychologyists records on animal abusers, it generally moves on to people. There is a pattern of behavior among people that keep animals who come to trust them fully, and then, totally breaking that trust by beating them to death, etc. If you think that that is a ‘normal” human way to be, you run with a rougher crowd than I ever did.

But, what other choices, than, say, football, do we give to a man like Vick? I dont know if he is unintelligent—never listened to him long enough. He was schooled in an inner city school, so you dont know.

voice of truth—Yes, certainly a stripper has the same “rights in court” as a bunch of rich, Duke students—-boy are you naive. I dont know that they were innocent at all. Never will. They have alot of money, so theyre ok with other people who have alot of money. It is also ok with rich people if poor people are paid multi millions to get their ass kicked for their enjoyment, especially when their other option was probably Af-Pak. So, something happens, here, no? They go get their ass kicked (brains damageed) for your pleasure and they go home and do it to a dog, their wife or kids and the cycle continues.

Samson, I was the one who made the comment, and I live in the Atlanta area currently. I very much remember Danny Heatley, and you’re right, he got nothing. And not only was it his friend who died, but he was also a teammate, Dan Snyder.

My comment on getting drunk and killing a kid? Just look at Donte Stallworth. Few months back, drunk, kills a man on his way home. Get’s 30 days in jail, 1yr league suspension and pays off the man’s family. Media outrage, etc., for about 3 weeks, then gone. Vick, on the other hand, will be forever dogged (bad pun!) by PETA and a large segment of the population will vilify him forever. And I guarantee you very few people have even heard of Stallworth. Makes you wonder where some people’s priorities really are.

Your other comments on Vick, vis-a-vis gambling, I’m not sure I agree with. I think Vick was erratic as a QB because a) he’s not that smart for a position that I believe is the most difficult in all of sports and b) he was not willing to learn the position. He is an incredibly gifted athlete, but like Tim Tebow, I’m not sure there is an NFL position that he fits neatly into.

There’s a comment that Vick would have been better off getting drunk and killing a kid.

Seems like a joke at first. But, as someone who used to live in Atlanta, it reminds me of something else that happened.

Does anyone know the name Danny Heatley? Maybe not, because he plays hockey instead of football. Another superstar athlete as a teenager, can’t miss superstar apparently. So, the Atlanta NHL team drafted him as their #1 pick.

On the ice, he was starting to show that he had the talent everyone thought he had. But, then late one night he was driving home from some team event. Late, after midnight, he was driving his best friend on the team home in his new Ferrari.

The road he was driving on was awful and tricky. And the estimate later was that he was doing about 80 mph when he lost control of the Ferrari and his a wall. Heatley had his knee badly hurt in the accident. His best friend was dead.

Legally, and in terms of the league, very little happened to Heatley. It was determined he wasn’t drinking. Just driving ridiculously recklessly and irresponsibly. And the general feeling, which I don’t really disagree with, was that he’d paid enough by knowing he’d killed his best friend.

When his knee was healthy, he was welcomed back to the Thrashers with open arms. But, apparently Heatley was uncomfortable playing in front of 13,000 people who knew what he had done, so he demanded a trade before the season. Thus he was traded to Ottawa where he’s been a star player on that underachieving team the last few years. And at no point was the millions that Heatley is earning as an NHL player ever threatened or questioned.

So, the line in the comment isn’t really that much of a joke. Legally and career-wise, it appears that Michael Vick would have been much better off driving a Ferrari at 80 mph in a 35 mph zone, wrecking and killing his best friend. As long as he wasn’t drunk when he did it. And I guess as long as he wasn’t going to a late night dog fight.

For a moment, stop focusing on the dogs. I want to know one thing. Did Michael Vick ever throw games or shave points when with the Falcons?

The staggering thing about Vick was that every year during training camp, players are warned against associating with gambling. The reasons for this are obvious. The integrity of the game is at stake. Yet, there was Michael Vick sitting there listening to those talks while knowing he was RUNNING a gambling operation.

Did Michael Vick ever lose money betting on dog fights? Did he ever owe money to gamblers? Since Michael Vick was hanging out and working with gamblers on a regular basis, did he ever place any bets on anything other than dog fights?

And most interestingly, today with hindsight, we know what wreckage the revelations about his dog fights have caused in his career. Did any of the gamblers with whom he was associating use this as a threat before it was publicly revealed?

Did someone use this to go to Michael Vick and say ‘throw this game or we ruin you by telling the authorities about your dog fights’?

I used to live in Atlanta, and for awhile there I watched most of the game Vick played. Vick was a horribly inconsistent QB. Part of this was because he rarely listened to his coaches and could never learn how to run an NFL passing attack.

But, now that you know Vick was associating, heck working with, gamblers, another question comes to mind. Was Michael Vick throwing games or shaving points when he was the Falcoms QB?

To me, the NFL and the media have done a wonderful job to make sure everyone is thinking about the cruelty to the dogs, and not asking this interesting question that would throw the whole integrity of the NFL into question.

I’m glad to see the issue of dog fighting being put up next to our use of animals for food. I know it makes people uncomfortable, but they are clearly connected.

As a practical matter, persons who enjoy dog fighting or any animal fighting are no different than persons who enjoy consuming animal products. I am NOT insinuating those who choose to consume animal products would enjoy watching the animals brutally slaughtered. But one can’t help but recognize the excuses used by those in dog fighting and those consuming animal products is a matter of pleasure. Enjoying the taste, tradition, or the easy availability really isn’t a very good excuse. After all, those who participate in animal fighting do so b/c they enjoy it, it brings them pleasure, or as one example from the article, it’s been an American tradition. These are not morally acceptable excuses.
Animals used for food are treated terribly. I would go as far to say that on a large scale animals used for food are treated worse than animals who win in these fighting rings. Never mind that the use varies, nonhuman animals are killed b/c humans receive pleasure from their deaths. There is no denying that is the end result.

Rutgers Law Professor, Gary Francione wrote a couple of pieces on this that at the very least will make you think, if you can read from an objective position. I don’t think we can post external web links, but a quick search will bring you to his website and articles.

The only reason people are upset over dog fighting is b/c so many people live with dogs, they feel they have a connection with them. I’ve never lived with a cow or chicken, but I’ve been around them enough to know they have very similar minds to dogs- they wish to avoid pain, they have an interest in continued existence. They enjoy socializing with one another, and protect their families.

We have a very unusual relationship with other animals. It’s no wonder children (and adults) enjoy interacting with chickens and cows at petting zoo’s, yet fail to connect that they go home and eat the animal they were interacting with just hours ago.

“And, to the life of me to this day I can’t understand why I was involved in such a pointless activity and why I risked so much at the pinnacle of my career.”

That’s the money quote that reveals Vick, although he may have served his sentence, remains as psychologically damaged and confused as ever.

Unless he went to one of those prisons where actual, professional rehabilitation and therapy are required before one’s release… (and cue laughter)... Of course, if such a prison existed and he did, he wouldn’t still be so confused…

The difference between humans bashing humans, and everything else, is that humans make the choice. Animals do not. And enjoying the torture and murder of defenseless, beautiful creatures ain’t f#@king cured with 18 months in the pokie and ‘hope.’

It was lacrosse players from Duke, not Princeton, and they did not rape or cause any harm to the “Af Am stripper”. That has been proven conclusively. They were tried by the media within days, but it was all made up by the stripper.

And lacrosse is one of the fastest growing sports around, there are a LOT of kids, boys and girls, who play it, and in a varied geographic area.

As for marrying one of my daughters, well, that would be hard since I’ve scared away all of their suitors

Nick, I did not mean to say that you or any other was necessarily equating killing a human to killing an animal. I personally think that what Vick did was horrendous. In fact, the dog fighting aspect was the least awful (since at least each dog had a chance to best the other). What they did to the dogs that didn’t perform, and HOW they killed them (electrocution, drowning, mutilation, beating), rather than simply euthanasia, says a LOT about what is going through a rather sick mind.

That said, have you ever tried to have a cow jump up in bed with you? That would really suck.

Voice of Truth and Mike are being intellectually dishonest about the meat eating arguments. Not one post has explicitly equated animal life to human life. The argument that I have made, one that I want to be honestly addressed, is the one stating that among the category of “animals” our laws currently discrimate between the animals we eat and those we call pets. The argument is not that we seek to attain moral equivalancy for humans and cows, but to highlight the discriminatory distinction between “dogs” and cows. If Vick deserved to be sentenced for harming one particular species of “animal”, why is the harm caused through the processing of “animal” meat products any different?

Such a long story over a football player! The first mistake is your “presumed role model to children”...why should he be? He shouldnt be.

Peopple like Vick often grow up in horrendous circumstances, and, suddenly are multi-millionaire stars that you expect to do no wrong…Mike Tyson was a horrible example.

Why dont we stop glorifying this crap and stop paying them so gd much??

Erik Johansen, from the land of my father, is right. Boxing and football (US style) are not much better than dogfighting, except that humans have a choice. (what was Vick’s other choice again?)They are for rich, (mostly) white men’s enjoyment, for a crumb of a chance to get “rich” for a poor boy (plus brain damage)

Fat Freddy—yes, but adedressing it from a “criminal justice” viewpoint ignores the moral questions.That is how we have gotten where with are, with all of these sports. Its fricking ridiculous.

For those that think animal cruelty can be separated from other crulties, why not let Vick marry your daughter and find out? Humans may not equate with animals, on one scale, but one can generally infer one from the other. Most sociopaths start out abusing animals.

I always wonder—could he marry into your family? I asked 10 Senators that when they all spoke out about the “injustice” of the LaCrosse (who plays THAT shit??) Team at Princeton who raped an Af Am stripper (yes, strippers can be raped) being “treated unfairly in the media”—let one of them marry your daughter, if you think that they did nothing wrong..

Anyone who uses superior strength, (mental of physical) to the ill of another being, should look at their reasons and decide whether they are sufficient. I submit that, for the ‘fun” of dogfighting, or even, boxing, it IS a moral issue.

Clearly, the stereotype of the left wing lib who has no concepts of sports is alive and well here. oooh, the violence of it all.

Vick would have been better off if he had gotten drunk and ran over a kid.

Equating an animal to a human is ridiculous. And how this article leads to people bitching about me eating meat, I have no idea.

In many areas of urban Atlanta, if you are walking a dog, especially a large dog, you can’t go a block without getting an offer to a dogfight. Like it or not, one of the things this story did was highlight that dogfighting is a huge part of the black urban culture.

And don’t stereotype owners either. The Rooney’s in Pittsburgh are an amazing ownership that really care about their players, their fans and their city. Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots, ditto.

Michael Vick has paid what he owed. 18 months in prison is far from an easy sentence. I wouldn’t want to do 18 hours, much less 18 months.

A lot of you on here need to realize that animals are not people. It would never occur to me to be cruel to an animal, far from it, I have several; however, I would not place their lives on an equal footing with that of my children.

I do not consider football to be a “blood sport”, and frankly anyone who does is being ridiculous. Boxing or MMA may be considered that, but football players have so much padding on that you would need to use a baseball bat to really get them bloody.

As to the lady who thought being given the finger was violent: Are you for real? A gesture is violent? Bullshit. I don’t care what you say, real violence doesn’t begin until someone is physically assaulted. A gesture to you in your car, from someone inside another car, is in no way, shape, or form violent. If you think that is violence, I suggest you stay home with your blinds drawn.

You make some interesting points about convicted felons. However, any felon that can throw a football 50 yards accurately, scramble, and play the wild cat will always have a job! Just wait until Plaxico Burress gets out and then the Eagles will have a quite a pair!

To the author, I so applaud your honesty and the process by which you looked at your own voyeurism regarding “bloodsports.” I had the same experience giving the finger to people. Once when it was given to me, I thought, “Jesus, this is so violent.” I’ve had a few slips but for the most part rarely give it anymore.

That said, this subject matter is so fricking sick. No other non-human animal pits another animal against one for the “sport” of it.

What does it say about us as a species that we enjoy watching planned bloody, cruel violence? Maybe it is part of human nature. But it’s not part of my human nature. And as someone who has spent a lifetime rescuing injured, abandoned and vulnerable animals; give me a non-human animal any day. I have two dogs, five cats, one rescued pet cow and a blind rescued rabbit. I would probably die for my animals. But I would never, EVER indulge in watching any of them die, or my human counterparts die, bashing and ripping each other’s brains out for sport and fun.

As far as Hip-Hop? I am exercising incredible restraint to withold what I’d really like to say. In this anal day and age of passing judgement on commentary I’d be crucified and called a racist bigot if I said what I really wanted. The thing is, isn’t EMINEM hip hop? So I wouldn’t be racist after all. I am simply one who hates illiterate, misogynist, bimbo thugs making millions endorsing violence and male dominance.

After reading this I looked my Kelpy/Aussie, Barney, in the eyes and told him he’d never be abused. Then I said a prayer for all the innocent, loving, loyal dogs subject to this unforgiveable cruelty. Shame on us!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Michael Vick saga has become one of the most puzzling examples of rampant hypocrisy within our culture as it pertains to our treatment of animals. While Vick’s sadistic and inhumane treatment of dogs is deplorable, I find the unnecessary consumption of the billions of livestock animals to be just as egregious. One would like to imagine that the average piece of meat on our plate originates from some idyllic setting of green pastures and happily free and grazing cattle and hogs. Anyone who has carefully researched the conditions of most factory farms understands that the degree of pain and suffering inflicted on these animals is excessive. How is it that our legal system sanctions violence against animals deemed pets, but turns a blind eye to the billions of animals that are slaughtered for food every year? Why do we consign a dog, rabbit, or cat to a greater level of moral status than a pig, lamb, or cow?

All of that pondering over Michael Vick and no real analysis of the other
“illogical and perhaps immoral contradiction” within most people: that of eating
animals??

If you examine animal agriculure and factory farming in the same detail that
you have researched this article, you will find the process indistinguishable
from even the most gruesome passages quoted above. The scale of the cruelty
and suffering is truly mind-boggling.

I was hoping that this piece would be about cognitive dissonance among
Michael Vick’s critics—and it certainly is—but the most obvious example is not
even mentioned. That people who eat meat, eggs and dairy can express moral
opprobrium at dog-fighting is baffling. It is as if they do not even recognize a
some part of themselves.

Yes the tenor of team franchise ownership has indeed changed. And it was true; the magnates found enough ego satisfaction at being a city’s provider of a commercial, yet still considered philanthropic enterprise. Often these owners considered themselves ballpark czars, which of course explains why the Chicago Cubs played all games in the day, because Wrigley said: “baseball should be played in the day”. Contrast that with new most recent owners, who now, having made an enormous investment and loans, seek to squeeze every damn dollar possible out of there.
Revenue ideas abound. From building a new set of luxury boxes, to installing a giant Jumbotron screen in center field.
Of course the neighborhood surrounding Wrigley field may prevent this from happening, but there is certainly going to be an enormous amount of economic muscle applied.
You mentioned the Dallas Cowboys and their new facility. I must say I took some comfort at seeing Jerry Jones, George W. Bush, and John Madden witness the NY Giants defeat the Cowboys in the last 2 minutes of the game, “in their brand new house” as they might say.

Michael Vick is a punk in a nation in love with punks and thugs. From George W. Bush to Dick Cheney to Barack Obama to Glenn Beck and Michelle Malkin to Lloyd Blankfein and Richard Fuld, the smiling, strutting, swaggering punk flipping the world the finger is perhaps the most revered individual in the United States.

Football = gambling. This country is all about gambling, as pointed out in Michael Moore’s Capitalism (where was the SEC?). Football players, sports celebs and others convene and bet all the time. But that’s another story line.

I never met a shepard that needed to be hung by the neck to get it to obey. Most shepards are programed to obey, best behaved animal there is.

I would have been more impresed if MackTN had turned the creep in for that behavior and no I don’t think Vick was over punished. I said it before and I say again someone who would treat an animal with deliberate disregard and not even to eat it, but just to enjoy inflicting pain and suffering. He would have done the same to a person. These people are not to be trusted.

Michael Vick was severely overprosecuted and punished for his crime against dogs undoubtedly,

Not really. If anything he was underprosecuted. I think the Feds let it roll, and let the state of Virginia run with it. Don’t forget, it wasn’t just cruelty to animals, it was the fact he bankrolled a major gambling ring. That’s organized crime, and he was the “kingpin”.

Ive always felt Vick was crucified. Absurd the punishment this man was put through. 5 pages of script to reach the conclusion we all ‘live in glass houses’—From Pope’s who watched a holocast and priests who diddle children to every one of us who demands wholesale slaughter of animals to put steak on our tables… we all hold good and evil in us.
We look around the world… the suffering of so many starving children.. the horrors of war. But in this country cute puppies become ‘family members’. Its insane.

Michael Vick was severely overprosecuted and punished for his crime against dogs undoubtedly, and I’m glad to see a well-thought out and researched article that highlights the illogic of Vick’s treatment. No, I don’t like dogs treated that way, but when I think of greater crimes against humanity that are sanctioned and justified—for example, those in Iraq, or torture/rendition, or banks stealing from its clients—I just can’t muster up the same level of outrage against a bunch of lowlife dogfighters. (I recall buying a dog from a kennel whose owner told me that he trained obedience from the shepherds and pit bulls by hanging them to the point of asphysiation from a tree limb).

But now Vick has transformed, found the Lord, ditched his arrogance, and will play for bread.

Amon Drool, I did read the piece and you have to understand that Vick was convicted of a very serious crime, espeically in the US: killing dogs while being Black and uppity. Several decades ago they probably would have lynched him but now they moerely imprisoned him, bankrupted him, and partially destroyed his carreer.

As the US sinks into barbarism, blood sports are becoming more popular, scuh as football, boxing and martial arts, but these merely involve people, not animals. If Vick broke someone’s neck on the football field he would probably be extolled. But doggies, that’s a different matter.

Americans have been taught to enjoy brutality and bloodshed, but only dirrected against people, preferably non-White ones. But, by God, we identify with our animal friends.

i don’t have enuf interest in this subject to even attempt to make it thru a 5 page story. but vick sitting 2 years in prison for what he partook in leaves me with some unease. i take part in a process that leaves me on the consumption end of the “industrial” killing of animals. hey, i gotta eat and i still sleep well enuf at nite. sure, vick needed to be admonished and punished some, but 2 years??!!

Having known many of the ‘playas’ in the South Florida cock-fighting business, these people are and seem normal, yet they have this extremely dark side to them.
When an animal they own does not perform well, it is killed and fed to the owners other animals.(If you did not know it, chickens are notorious for eating carrion.) All this is done with alacrity and with no more heart than eating the same chicken for lunch.
Yet they will not let their children see such spectacles, they think that children should be protected from such sights.
Michael Vick does sound remorseful, yet the only true way to tell if someone is remorseful and has changed his mind regarding a certain activity, is to watch and see if his/her actions correspond with the words emanating from the mouth of the offender.
As for myself, I have long ago, given up the watching of baseball, football, basketball, soccer, boxing, and most any other sport. The simple fact is that the people who engage in these childhood games, are paid way too much money and I do not wish to support a culture which lionizes the playing of games by adults, who should be out earning a real living and not playing childhood games and receiving the adulation of people who will never see the kind of money and prestige that these people receive.

I woudl add my kudos to the excellent post of Freddy, and applaud his honesty as well.

The entire panoply of professional sports is warped beyond repair, I fear. Multi-millionaires, many without the sense to handle sudden wealth and the insight to understand how quickly the money disappears and the career as well. Billionaire owners who view humans as commodities only and reap many times the money they pay out.

I had season tickets to the Forty Niners for eleven years, was a passionate fan in fact though during most of that time the team was terrible. I gave up my tickets after the second super bowl season and have never looked back. I rooted for the Giants forever, my first baseball game was at the old Polo Grounds. Same with that loyalty, no time or patience for what is basically a rip off, of the players and of the fans.

At first, I passed by this article, and then, I returned to it, and read all five pages. When I was younger, I was a big sports fan, and watched football, baseball, etc. I was addicted to reading the baseball stats. But, I have never watched boxing—it’s far too brutal for me. A few years ago, I found myself feeling the same way about football, and I no longer watch baseball, either. I will admit that the obscene salaries and the issue of steroids also intruded upon my psyche. Truthfully, though, it’s not just sports—it’s the entire celebrity scene here in the U.S. The stars make all the money, and crumbs are tossed to the rest of us.

Being an animal lover, I can’t even begin to imagine how anyone can watch, and thrill, at the sight of dogs fighting to their death. Living in East Harlem, in NYC, I have heard rumors that pit bull dog fights take place in my neighborhood on a regular basis. Then, I hear that it’s all rumor. I have no idea what the truth is, but the number of pit bulls in my neighborhood is extraordinary. That fact I do know. I remember having many of the same feelings as the author of this article had as the facts unfolded and were reported about Michael Vick, and I have mixed feelings about him being forgiven to the extent that he, unlike many other individuals, will be able to rebuild his life on a scale that is unimaginable for most of us.

Fat Freddy: Thank you for sharing your own story with us! Your post is very interesting, and your point about society giving, or not giving, felons, as well as people afflicted with other serious issues, a second chance is well taken. For the most part, this society in which we live, here in the U.S., is harsh and unforgiving.

However, Mr. Vick gets a second chance, and not just any second chance, but the opportunity to make millions and millions of dollars in a short season. That will never happen for most citizens, regardless of their situation.

the beerdoctor: I agree with your conclusion—
“The fact is, Mr. Vick, for whatever thugish behaviour he was found guilty of engaging in, is still a possible lucrative commodity to the corporate sports industry known as the National Football League.”

Great article. Until you started comparing your watching humans who CHOSE to fight, to those animals who have no choice within a dog fighint operation.

Do these boxers and other contact sport participants, fight to death? If they are injured, will their injuries be treated by applying SUPERGLUE? Will that boxer be hung or thrown in a dumpster if he lose that fight? Are you exploiting the goodness of an animal when watching boxing (because you know that’s what they do, when they train a dog to fight, they exploit that loyalty, which PIT BULLS are known to be the most loyal breed alive), or exploiting the over testosteroned actions of men who have made their own choices??? Was there a young child put on a wheeljenny for hours to get that boxer motivated, then that young innocent sacrificed for the boxers training? Did anyone feed the boxers peppers and gun powder before a fight? Or did they likely shoot those things in their own veins in the form of steroids?

Personally, I have never watched a boxing match nor sport such as that, and wasn’t repulsed and wondered at the idiocy of this being called a “sport”. I have never watched an entire boxing match. You watch it and like it, so…ok, you have your fair share of medieval tendencies, that’s all this article says, other than the VERY VERY concise and good background info on MV. I think that part was fair, truthful, and very interesting before you started castrating yourself for enjoying a good boxing match now and again.

Another thing you may have missed though, although you did a very thorough job, the schools that MV is speaking to, through the Humane Society (Because he NEEDED to appear contrite so he would be allowed to return to the NFL) are not the schools that would have students who would likely be into dog fighting. His first, was scheduled for his 60 minutes taping, and was taped here in Atlanta. They staged the location in the vicinity of some poverty stricken neighborhoods, to appear as if they were reaching out to those “infected” with dog fighting. None of the children from that neighborhood were allowed into the venue where Vick was speaking. Only 50 people were allowed to hear his 12 minute speach, but those 50 people were handpicked by Michael Vick’s “handlers”, that was part of the agreement for him to speak. And none of those children lived anywhere near the location of the taping of this “PR” stunt. HUH??? They needed footage for the 60 minute interview. So they staged it. Ok…then the next school he speaks to his a private parochial school, where the dropout rate is 1% and 9 out of 10 students are college bound. Uhhh, exactly WHY did these kids need to hear MV speak??? Why not go to the areas where this is a problem, to speak??? Because he doesn’t mean it, and he doesn’t want to lose his “street cred”. Heck, he doesn’t even have to ever speak to another group again, he could just give the feds the names of anybody he associated with during his dog fighting years, lets put them all in jail, then he will have proven that he believes what he did is wrong. But he resists this, instead he is speaking at private religious schools, LMAOOOO.

Shout out to FATFREDDY you said far more than Caswell did, in much fewer words—Bravo FATFREDDY, nice response—Thanks for providing the clarity that Caswell is missing here—

I am no expert in professional football. But, it seems there was a time when it was an “honor” to own an NFL team. Former Eagles owner Leonard Tose made a fortune in the trucking industry prior to buying the Eagles. Compare that to current owner Jeffrey Laurie, who was a nominally successful movie producer, whose family owns a publishing company, whose primary source of income is the football team. I can’t speak too badly of Mr. Laurie, considering how badly the greedy bastard, and used car dealer Norman Braman who owned the team prior to Mr. Laurie, conducted business. Norman Braman is hated in Philly, and would be foolish to be seen anywhere in the city or surrounding area.

The only good thing Norman Braman ever did for the Philadelphia Eagles was hire Buddy Ryan. - Buddy Ryan (former head coach)

But consider the $1.2 billion dollar stadium recently built by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. One third of that cost will be made up in the naming rights of the stadium. Amazing.

Remorse has nothing to do with this. The fact is, Mr. Vick, for whatever thugish behaviour he was found guilty of engaging in, is still a possible lucrative commodity to the corporate sports industry known as the National Football League. Why else would a reprehensible owner such as Mike Brown, owner of the Cincinnati Bengals, make an offer for Vick’s services before the Eagles made him a better one?
Celebrity culture teaches that even irresponsible trash can be made marketable.

I would hardly compare boxing and MMA to dog fighting, anymore than I would compare it to football or ice hockey. People choose to step into a ring, dogs don’t. Your “moral dilemma” is along the lines of a parent, who smoked pot in college, lecturing their children on the dangers of drug addiction.
Get over it.

I would like to address this issue from a criminal justice viewpoint. First, let me say, I live in the Philly area (all my life), and I am an Eagles fan (to a degree), and I am a convicted felon (for a minor drug charge). I have also employed convicted felons on parole, on occasion.

Ed Rendell (Gov. of Pennsylvania) has weighed in on this issue. Gov. Rendell has some credibility, due to the fact that before he was governor, he was DA and then Mayor of Philadelphia. He is also a huge Eagles fan and appears regularly on Post Game Live on Comcast Sports Net, which is an in depth game summary show that airs immediately after every Eagles game.

Gov. Rendell, and Eagles owner Jeffrey Laurie, have both stated, basically, that people deserve a second chance. That Michael Vick has served his time, and “paid his debt to society” and should be allowed to get on with his life. This is a very nice sentiment, indeed, but hardly applies to most of the general population. My question to Mr Laurie is, how many other convicted felons work for the Eagles organization? In the front office? Cleaning toilets in the stadium? Personally, even after 10 years, in a good economy, it would be very difficult for me to get a job stocking shelves at Wal-Mart. That’s the reality of it. The people I have employed, have come from a temporary labor agency. The work they do, would normally pay anywhere from $15-20/hr. They get paid minimum wage. But, if they work hard, and show up regularly, there’s a chance a company will hire them permanently.

I really did not expect the NFL to immediately reinstate Michael Vick. I expected that he would play, say, for the Canadian Football League (CFL) for a few years, at a relatively minuscule salary, and work his way back up to the NFL, eventually. That would be “social justice”.

I have no doubt Mr. Vick is remorseful. But, there are many reasons why a convicted felon can be remorseful. He can be remorseful for the actual crime he committed, and the cruelty and suffering he imposed on animals. He could be remorseful for getting caught. Or, he could be, for what many criminals are, remorseful for being stupid.

As a scandinavian my take on this is that Michael Vick is “evil as hell” and football and boxing is just as pointless as dog fighting or bull fighting. There is though a huge difference between what adults choose to do with their own bodies and what someone choose to force upon others. We destroy ourselves smoking, drinking, eating fat and sugar, but we have the right to do so. As free human beings we should have this right, even if we have universal health care and it costs the state(the other tax payers) when we get sick. What Michael Vick was a part of was evil. 18 months in prison is a joke. If he did serious time I would feel like he had the right to “join society” again. 18 months for what he did is simply a joke.